Santa Barbara Classic Wine Tours

One of California’s coolest wine-growing areas, Santa Barbara County’s topography features a unique east-west orientation of its coastal mountains. Since the region’s valleys are opened directly onto the Pacific Ocean, fog and ocean breezes roll in, creating numerous microclimates. This generally-cooler air also means that grapes don’t need to be harvested as early as their cousins in hotter climates. This allows Santa Barbara’s grapes to develop rich flavors and characteristics.

We enjoyed being in rustically-beautiful Santa Barbara County, California which is also the heart of Sideways filming locations. On a tasting excursion with wine entrepreneurs Kevin and Sherene, of Santa Barbara Classic Wine Tours, we’d explore three wineries and a beer taproom, don furry Davy Crockett coonskin hats, and hear a plethora of praise for the 2004 film that helped to put this Southern California wine region on the map.